Miscellaneous writings of the late Dr. Maginn edited by Dr. Shelton Mackenzie |
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[Oh! mortal man, how varied is thy lot] |
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 | Miscellaneous writings of the late Dr. Maginn |  |
237
[Oh! mortal man, how varied is thy lot]
Oh! mortal man, how varied is thy lot,
Thy ecstasies of joy and sorrow, how
Chill'd, sunk, and servile art thou, or how hot
Flashes indignant beauty from thy brow!
Times change, and empires fall; the gods allow
Brief space for human contemplation, and
Above all partial dictates disavow
Unequal love; how can we, at their hand,
For individual fate a gentler boon demand!
Thy ecstasies of joy and sorrow, how
Chill'd, sunk, and servile art thou, or how hot
Flashes indignant beauty from thy brow!
Times change, and empires fall; the gods allow
Brief space for human contemplation, and
Above all partial dictates disavow
Unequal love; how can we, at their hand,
For individual fate a gentler boon demand!
Childe Paddy parted from his father's cot;
It was not castle proud, nor palace high,
Extraneous symmetry here glitter'd not,
But turf-built walls and filth did meet the eye;
Loud was the grumph and grumble from hog-stye;
Swans gleam'd not here, as on the Leman lake,
But goose and ducklings, famed for gabbling cry,
With quack, quack, quack, did make the roofs to shake,
Till in their utmost holes the wondering rats did quake!
It was not castle proud, nor palace high,
Extraneous symmetry here glitter'd not,
But turf-built walls and filth did meet the eye;
Loud was the grumph and grumble from hog-stye;
Swans gleam'd not here, as on the Leman lake,
But goose and ducklings, famed for gabbling cry,
With quack, quack, quack, did make the roofs to shake,
Till in their utmost holes the wondering rats did quake!
He thought of father, whom he loved, and left;
He thought of mother, at her booming wheel;
He thought of sister, of his care bereft;
He thought of brethren dear; and, to conceal
The endless pangs that o'er his brain did reel,
As through the vale his pensive way he took,
For fear his onward purpose would congeal
He sung, while pacing with right-forward look,
“Sweet Kitty of Coleraine,” and “Fair of Donabrooke!”
He thought of mother, at her booming wheel;
He thought of sister, of his care bereft;
He thought of brethren dear; and, to conceal
The endless pangs that o'er his brain did reel,
As through the vale his pensive way he took,
For fear his onward purpose would congeal
He sung, while pacing with right-forward look,
“Sweet Kitty of Coleraine,” and “Fair of Donabrooke!”
| Miscellaneous writings of the late Dr. Maginn | |